Tessa Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 I woke up one night at 4 am (some months ago) because having an acute chest pain. A terrible & scary experience. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The pain lasted for long and we were thinking to rush to the ER but then it started fading away. Even though, as I still had some discomfort and we were worried, we went to the ER at about 8 am. At the ER I had an ECG done. First, the nurse looked up strangely and called another nurse. They both looked to the ECG, made a comment, (I just could hear something similar to "that?s not possible") scrapped the result and started again. When I was given the ECG result, the doctor said that there was nothing unusual but to come back If the pain started again...Now, months later, I have noticed that there is a note on the ECG.Low voltage in all frontal leads in the limit... all frontal leads <0.6 mV I hope it is the right translation, in Spanish it is stated: "bajo voltaje en derivs frontales en el limite... todas derivs frontales <0.6 mV"Any idea what it means?I wonder if this had a clue and they did not notice. Comments are welcome,Thank you for your help.Love,Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flop Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 hi Tessa,low voltage on ECG means that the height of the spikes on the trace was smaller than expected. I know that one common reason for getting abnormalities on an ECG is because the electrodes were stuck in the wrong places. As far as I know the most common concerning changes on an ECG during chest pain are changes to the T-wave and the ST segments (these are not "low voltage" changes).It may be worth asking your doctor to get a new ECG done when you are not having pain just so that you know what your "baseline" ECG looks like. If that also had abnormalities then you could ask to see a cardiologist but if it was normal you should probably not worry about the ER ECG.Flop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiactec Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 flop is right, generally low voltage, especially in the frontal leads, most always in from lead placement error. global low voltage (low voltage throughout the entire ecg) is generally indicative of a couple things - could mean someone is severely obese so the electrical signals basically just have more adipose tissue to channel through, thus creating low voltage. pericardial and/or pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs or heart) can cause low voltage.did they do a chest x-ray on you?have you had ecgs in the past demonstrating this?flop is right, it is probably nothing to be concerned with, but still goo to follow with a cardiologist.good luck, hope you are feeling better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa Posted November 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 Thank you for your answers, Flop and Cardiactec. Good to know the reason of a low voltage. Could be what you mention, Flop, that the electrodes were placed wrongly... I have no idea if T-wave and ST segments were right, but the doctor said that everything was fine...I probably do not need to worry about the ER ECG. Thanks for your help. Cardiactec:did they do a chest x-ray on you?No, they did not. have you had ecgs in the past demonstrating this?I am afraid I have not kept a previous ECG... I do not know if this has been demonstrated on a past one. flop is right, it is probably nothing to be concerned with, but still goo to follow with a cardiologistI am planning to visit the Cardiologist again, among other things, to ask if I can start some exercise suggested by the Endo (because I?ve lost muscle mass)... Taking into account that my bp is very low and my heart rate uses to be high at rest - about 90 & 100 bmp My heart rate tries to compensate the low bp by beating faster... But of course, I do not think that having your heart rate for hours at 90 or 100 bmp is good for your heart... Love,Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flop Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 Tessa,good luck for your visit to the cardiologist, I hope you get some advice about the best sort of exercise for you to do. ECGs are a quick and easy test to do so you might as well ask for one while you're there just to put your mind at rest. It is worth keeping a copy of your own ECG so that if you get chest pain again the ECG at that time can be compared with your normal one.My own ECG has a few changes on it, they are all variations of normal and I have been told that they are of no significance - however if I see a new doctor and they do an ECG it usually freaks them out until I show them an identical old ECG!Flop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Hi FlopThank you for sharing your own experience. Sounds like I will have to keep a normal ECG. Will ask for an app. with the Cardiologist for a check-up.I told my GP yesterday that I am having about 100 bmp at rest and he admitted that it is too high for being at rest... Even though, he said that doing some tai-chi could be good for my muscle mass and overal health... I am not quite sure that any exercise will make me feel better as I am usually exhausted and sick when for instance having a bath, homework done, cooking, etc...Love,Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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